On diplomacy – Der Spiegel (Konstantin von Hammerstein, Jonas Schaible,Christoph Schult):

‘The eyes of one of her assistants fall shut, and Baerbock herself is also likely to be exhausted. Germany’s foreign minister, a member of the Green Party, has just finished a week of negotiations in Dubai at the UN Climate Change Conference. Now, she is flying home and could be holding forth to journalists about the battle against fossil fuels. Instead, though, she is trying to make out the contours of the Gaza Strip far below.’

(…)

‘She then turned to the government in Jerusalem: "We expect Israel to ensure its military actions are more targeted and cause fewer civilian casualties. The conflict has already cost the lives of too many civilians in Gaza."
Baerbock didn’t say: "We would like." She said: "We expect." It is the kind of clarity that German government officials haven’t always been known for.’

(…)

‘Away from the limelight, say sources in the German Foreign Ministry, there have been expressions of gratitude for Germany’s efforts to mediate at the United Nations.’

(…)

‘Cooperation with her Arab counterparts, however, has proven to be more challenging. Diplomats from the region tend to sound quite a bit different behind closed doors than they do in public. Internally, it is said, many are pleased that Hamas is finally being cut down to size. Externally, though, they have been sending an entirely different message. In countries like Jordan and Lebanon, both of which border Israel and are home to large Palestinian minorities, governments are particularly concerned about popular anger.’

(…)

‘Baerbock has in no way become unmoored from reality. The situation in the Middle East is growing more challenging by the day, and after Israel killed a high-ranking Hamas functionary in Lebanon on Tuesday, there is a very real risk of spiraling violence. Baerbock’s goals have also become more difficult to attain. But what is the alternative? Abandoning diplomacy? "I believe," she said at the Jewish Community Day in Berlin, "that it is only possible to engage in politics when there is hope."’

Read the article here.

There’s always another catastrophe, and for that reason there’s always hope.

But of course, a politician, like a priest, must speak of hope, It’s part of the profession.
One reason why the war in Gaza is raging is that Arab autocrats, from Saudi Arabi to Egypt to Morocco supports Israel crushing the people in Gaza and Hamas. The former more than the latter.

The popular anger till now is subdued. No revolutions. Symbolic solidarity is more than nothing but it rarely saves lives.